With the fourth quarter of the Kings versus Lakers game winding down, and the Western Conference first seed secured, I have no doubt in my mind that Kobe Bryant outright deserves to be the 2008 NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

In years past, Kobe’s name has always appeared on the polls, but the Lakers were a .500 team, and his individual statistics were never enough to garner the votes needed to win the award. This year is completely different. Kobe’s statistics have gone down (particularly in scoring) and he relinquished his two year reign as scoring champ to Lebron James. But who really cares?

Stats are a thing of the past for Mr. Bryant and it seems he has finally realized what it takes for his team to win. The trust he had in young Andrew Bynum and the rest of his team early in the season has translated not only into a playoff bound team, but into a championship caliber team. With the addition of Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are legitimate title contenders and most of it has to do with Bryant’s unselfishness and leadership this season.

The fact that he has played the entire 2nd half of the season with a broken pinky finger and torn ligament makes this season even more magnificent. Kobe truly has the heart of a warrior.

With the #1 seed in this years wild wild West, the Pacific Conference title, and another all-star season in the books, it would be a total disgrace not to see Kobe Bryant win an award he actually earned and deserves.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!